4 reasons to learn a new language | John McWhorter

Translator: Sui He Reviewer: Sylvia He

The language I'm speaking right now

我宜家用嘅語言

is on its way to becoming the world's universal language,

就來成爲世界通用語言

for better or for worse.

無論係好定壞

Let's face it,

我哋要面對呢個事實

it's the language of the internet,

互聯網用英文

it's the language of finance,

金融交易用英文

it's the language of air traffic control,

空中交通管制用英文

of popular music,

流行音樂用英文

diplomacy --

外交亦係用英文

English is everywhere.

英文無處不在

Now, Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people,

宜家，愈來愈多人用普通話交流

but more Chinese people are learning English

但係同時，學英文嘅華人

than English speakers are learning Chinese.

多過於學中文嘅外籍人士

Last I heard,

我聽講過

there are two dozen universities in China right now

喺中國有 24 間大學

teaching all in English.

用英文教學

English is taking over.

英文正在成爲主流

And in addition to that,

仲有

it's been predicted that at the end of the century

有人預測喺呢個世紀尾

almost all of the languages that exist now --

幾乎所有現存嘅語言

there are about 6,000 --

大概 6000 種

will no longer be spoken.

唔會俾用來做語言交流

There will only be some hundreds left.

通用嘅語言會剩番幾百種

And on top of that,

仲有

it's at the point where instant translation of live speech

直播演講嘅即時翻譯唔只會成爲現實

is not only possible, but it gets better every year.

仲會越來越好

The reason I'm reciting those things to you

我背咗咁多書

is because I can tell that we're getting to the point

係因爲我知道，我哋已經到咗

where a question is going to start being asked,

一個要問問題嘅點

which is: Why should we learn foreign languages --

問題就係，母語係英文嘅人

other than if English happens to be foreign to one?

點解仲要學其他語言？

Why bother to learn another one when it's getting to the point

全世界都可以用 同一種語言交流

where almost everybody in the world will be able to communicate in one?

點解仲要再學一種語言？

I think there are a lot of reasons,

我相信有好多種原因

but I first want to address

第一個原因

the one that you're probably most likely to have heard of,

可能亦係大家最經常聽到嗰个

because actually it's more dangerous than you might think.

因為事實危險過想象好多

And that is the idea

換句話講

that a language channels your thoughts,

語言影響人嘅思維方式

that the vocabulary and the grammar of different languages

唔同語言有唔同嘅詞彙同文法

gives everybody a different kind of acid trip,

令到人類擁有唔同嘅思維過程

so to speak.

就係咁

That is a marvelously enticing idea,

呢係個好有趣嘅觀點

but it's kind of fraught.

雖然有些小誤導人

So it's not that it's untrue completely.

呢個觀點唔係全錯

So for example, in French and Spanish

譬如喺法文同西班牙文

the word for table is, for some reason, marked as feminine.

個「枱」字係陰性

So, "la table," "la mesa," you just have to deal with it.

「la table，la mesa」

（法，西）我哋唯有記住

It has been shown

有實驗表明

that if you are a speaker of one of those languages

如果你嘅母語係法文或者西班牙文

and you happen to be asked

如果有人叫你

how you would imagine a table talking,

想象下張枱識講嘢會點講

then much more often than could possibly be an accident,

好多時

a French or a Spanish speaker

講法文或者西班牙文嘅人

says that the table would talk with a high and feminine voice.

會話張枱用女聲

So if you're French or Spanish, to you, a table is kind of a girl,

既係，法國或西班牙人會當張枱係女仔

as opposed to if you are an English speaker.

如果你講英文，你會當枱係男仔

It's hard not to love data like that,

呢啲數據真係好好玩

and many people will tell you that that means

可能會有人話

that there's a worldview that you have if you speak one of those languages.

如果你識外語，你就會有一種國際視角

But you have to watch out,

不過一定要注意

because imagine if somebody put us under the microscope,

如果將母語係英語嘅人

the us being those of us who speak English natively.

作爲樣品觀察嘅話

What is the worldview from English?

英文包括嘅國際視角又係乜

So for example, let's take an English speaker.

講幾個例子

Up on the screen, that is Bono.

屏幕上嘅人叫 Bono

He speaks English.

佢用慣英文

I presume he has a worldview.

我假設佢有國際視角

Now, that is Donald Trump.

而呢個人係 Donald Trump

In his way,

佢喺度用佢嘅方式

he speaks English as well.

講英文

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And here is Ms. Kardashian,

呢個係 Kardashian 女士

and she is an English speaker, too.

佢都講英文

So here are three speakers of the English language.

所以我哋有三個講英文嘅樣本

What worldview do those three people have in common?

佢哋嘅國際視野有咩相似

What worldview is shaped through the English language that unites them?

英文又點樣影響佢哋嘅國際觀念

It's a highly fraught concept.

呢係講法好誤導人

And so gradual consensus is becoming that language can shape thought,

慢慢形成嘅共識係語言影響思維方式

but it tends to be in rather darling, obscure psychological flutters.

呢個係一個好模糊嘅共識

It's not a matter of giving you a different pair of glasses on the world.

唔係俾你多副眼鏡睇世界咁簡單

Now, if that's the case,

所以喺呢種情況下

then why learn languages?

點解要學語言

If it isn't going to change the way you think,

如果學習言唔會改變思維方式

what would the other reasons be?

又有乜其他原因呢

There are some.

原因有以下幾個

One of them is that if you want to imbibe a culture,

一、你想要瞭解一個新文化

if you want to drink it in, if you want to become part of it,

要瞭解通透，就要成爲佢嘅一部分

then whether or not the language channels the culture --

語言對文化有冇影響

and that seems doubtful --

亦冇一個明確嘅答案

if you want to imbibe the culture,

如果你想瞭解一個文化

you have to control to some degree

你就要喺某種程度上

the language that the culture happens to be conducted in.

瞭解呢種文化形成嘅語言因素

There's no other way.

除此之外，冇他法

There's an interesting illustration of this.

有一個好有趣嘅實例

I have to go slightly obscure, but really you should seek it out.

有啲偏門，但你真係要睇下

There's a movie by the Canadian film director Denys Arcand --

加拿大導演 Denys Arcand 嘅一部電影

read out in English on the page, "Dennis Ar-cand,"

英文係「Dennis Ar-cand」

if you want to look him up.

如果你想上網搜索

He did a film called "Jesus of Montreal."

佢有部作品叫「蒙特利爾嘅耶穌」

And many of the characters

其中有好多角色

are vibrant, funny, passionate, interesting French-Canadian,

都係好有趣嘅法裔加拿大人

French-speaking women.

同講法文嘅女人

There's one scene closest to the end,

喺電影結尾之前有一幕

where they have to take a friend to an Anglophone hospital.

主角要帶朋友去個英文醫院

In the hospital, they have to speak English.

所以喺醫院入邊 一定要講英文

Now, they speak English but it's not their native language,

但係英文唔係佢哋嘅母語

they'd rather not speak English.

所以佢哋好唔想講英文

And they speak it more slowly,

唯有好慢咁講英文

they have accents, they're not idiomatic.

佢哋有好重嘅口音，用詞好唔通順

Suddenly these characters that you've fallen in love with

突然間，

become husks of themselves, they're shadows of themselves.

呢啲你好中意嘅人物嘅形象大打折扣

To go into a culture

真係進入一個文化

and to only ever process people through that kind of skrim curtain

凈係只透過層厚紗去觀察

is to never truly get the culture.

係冇辦法真正瞭解一個文化

And so to the extent that hundreds of languages will be left,

所以喺本世紀末，得番幾百種語言個時

one reason to learn them

其中一個去學習語言嘅原因係

is because they are tickets to being able to participate

學語言提供咗 一個

in the culture of the people who speak them,

參與到原生語言環境中嘅機會

just by virtue of the fact that it is their code.

畢竟語言係一個羣體嘅符號

So that's one reason.

呢個係第一個原因

Second reason:

第二個原因

it's been shown

研究表明

that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in,

如果可以講兩種語言嘅人

唔容易得老年癡呆

and that you are probably a better multitasker.

而且項目管理能力會好叻

And these are factors that set in early,

呢類早期嘅影響因素

and so that ought to give you some sense

令我哋可以

of when to give junior or juniorette lessons in another language.

畀大學生一個大致嘅概念

Bilingualism is healthy.

就係熟悉兩種語言有益健康

And then, third --

第三個原因

languages are just an awful lot of fun.

語言本身係十分之有趣

Much more fun than we're often told.

比我哋平時瞭解到嘅更加有趣，譬如

So for example, Arabic: "kataba," he wrote,

阿拉伯文嘅「kataba」係「他寫」

"yaktubu," he writes, she writes.

「yaktubu」係「他寫」、「她寫」

"Uktub," write, in the imperative.

「Uktub」係「寫，命令式」

What do those things have in common?

佢哋有乜相同之處

All those things have in common

佢哋嘅共同點

the consonants sitting in the middle like pillars.

就係作為中流砥柱嘅輔音

They stay still,

輔音唔會變

and the vowels dance around the consonants.

元音就圍住輔音跳舞

Who wouldn't want to roll that around in their mouths?

咁好玩，係人都想練習下啲發音啦

You can get that from Hebrew,

希伯來文，同衣索比亞嘅主要語言

you can get that from Ethiopia's main language, Amharic.

阿姆哈拉文，都有相似嘅例子

That's fun.

真係好有趣

Or languages have different word orders.

唔同語言有唔同嘅文字順序

Learning how to speak with different word order

學識唔同嘅文字順序

is like driving on the different side of a street if you go to certain country,

就好似喺唔同國家開車用左右舵咁

or the feeling that you get when you put Witch Hazel around your eyes

好似金缕梅入眼一樣

and you feel the tingle.

你會感受到微震

A language can do that to you.

語言有相似嘅效果

So for example,

譬如話

"The Cat in the Hat Comes Back,"

《戴高帽子的猫又來了》

a book that I'm sure we all often return to,

我相信大家都經常回顧呢本書

like "Moby Dick."

又譬如話《白鯨記》

One phrase in it is, "Do you know where I found him?

有句話： 「你知唔知我喺邊度搵到佢？」

Do you know where he was? He was eating cake in the tub,

「你知唔知佢喺邊度？」

「佢食緊蛋糕係水缸入邊啊」

Yes he was!"

「真係啊！」

Fine. Now, if you learn that in Mandarin Chinese,

如果你用普通話講

then you have to master,

嘅順序就會係

"You can know, I did where him find?

「你能想到我在哪裏把他找到的嗎？」

He was tub inside gorging cake,

「他在水缸裏面吃蛋糕」

No mistake gorging chewing!"

「沒有錯，真是在吃蛋糕！」

That just feels good.

呢種感覺真係好好

Imagine being able to do that for years and years at a time.

想像一下你年年月月都識做呢件事

Or, have you ever learned any Cambodian?

又或者，你哋有冇人學過柬埔寨文

Me either, but if I did,

我都冇學過，不過如果我學過

I would get to roll around in my mouth not some baker's dozen of vowels

我就會學到好多元音

like English has,

唔止英文嘅十零個咁可憐

but a good 30 different vowels

有成 30 幾個咁多

scooching and oozing around in the Cambodian mouth

喺你嘴裡邊

like bees in a hive.

好似蜜蜂喺巢裡邊，橫衝直撞

That is what a language can get you.

呢個就係語言可以做乜

And more to the point,

更重要嘅係

we live in an era when it's never been easier to teach yourself another language.

我哋生喺一個

可以容易自學其他語言嘅時代

It used to be that you had to go to a classroom,

喺以前，你要去課室

and there would be some diligent teacher --

課室會有勤力嘅老師

some genius teacher in there --

亦都有天才老師

but that person was only in there at certain times

但係，佢哋唔喺成日喺度

and you had to go then,

仲去搵佢哋時

and then was not most times.

佢哋又未必有時間畀你

You had to go to class.

你唯有去上堂

If you didn't have that, you had something called a record.

你如果冇機會去上堂

你就要跟住錄音碟

I cut my teeth on those.

我就係用錄音磁帶開始學嘅

There was only so much data on a record,

錄音碟或者叫錄音磁帶

or a cassette,

又或者係最經典嘅 CD

or even that antique object known as a CD.

入邊內容有限

Other than that you had books that didn't work,

有時你手頭有書，但係本書唔好

that's just the way it was.

以前就係咁嘞

Today you can lay down --

但係家下，你可以癱喺沙發度

lie on your living room floor,

或者癱喺客廳個個地下

sipping bourbon,

飲下酒

and teach yourself any language that you want to

學你想學嘅語言

with wonderful sets such as Rosetta Stone.

宜家有非常好嘅工具

譬如 Rosetta Stone

I highly recommend the lesser known Glossika as well.

我個人推介比較小衆嘅 Glossika

You can do it any time,

幾時學都得

therefore you can do it more and better.

所以你就有機會學得更多更好

You can give yourself your morning pleasures in various languages.

你可以朝早學語言

I take some "Dilbert" in various languages every single morning;

我會喺每個早晨用唔同語言

睇「呆伯特（Dilbert）」動畫

it can increase your skills.

來提高我嘅語言能力

Couldn't have done it 20 years ago

喺廿年前就冇咁方便

when the idea of having any language you wanted

一個人可以隨身

in your pocket,

譬如話，個袋入邊

coming from your phone,

手機入邊有學語言嘅資料

would have sounded like science fiction to very sophisticated people.

喺以前會係天方夜譚

So I highly recommend

所以，我強烈建議

that you teach yourself languages other than the one that I'm speaking,

你學幾個新語言

because there's never been a better time to do it.

因爲宜家係個好好嘅機會

It's an awful lot of fun.

真係會好好玩

It won't change your mind,

佢未必會改變你嘅諗法

but it will most certainly blow your mind.

但係一定會顛覆你嘅思維

Thank you very much.

多謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）